What are the responsibilities of a consumer?
They are as follows:
(i) Consumer must exercise his Rights: Consumers have many rights with regard to the goods and services. They must be aware of their rights while buying. These rights are: right of safety, right to be informed, right to representation, right to seek redressal, right to consumer education, etc.
(ii) Cautious Consumer /do not buy Blindly: The consumers should make full use of their reason while buying things. They should not take the seller’s words as the final truth. In other words, while buying consumer must get information regarding the quality, quantity, price, utility, etc. of goods and services.
(iii) Filing complaint for the redressal of genuine grievances: It is the responsibility of the consumers to approach the officer concerned in case there is some complaint about the goods purchased. A late complaint may find that the period of guarantee/warrantee has lapsed. Sometimes, consumers ignore the deception of businessmen. This tendency encourages corrupt business practices.
(iv) Consumer must be Quality Conscious /should not compromise on Quality: The consumers should never compromise on the quality of the goods. Therefore, they should not buy inferior stuff out of greed for cheaper prices. If the consumers behave like this, there cannot be any protection for them from any quarter. It is also the responsibility of the consumers only to buy goods with the ISI, Agmark, Woolmark, FPO, etc. printed on them. All these symbols are indicative of the good quality of the goods.
Explain the redressal mechanism available to consumers under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
Or
Explain the redressal machinery under the Consumer Protection Act,1986.
The redressal machinery under the consumer protection Act,1986:
Explain the rights and responsibilities of a consumer.
Rights of a consumer:
(i) Right to Safety: It is the right to safety against such goods and services as are hazardous to health, life and property of the consumer. For example, spurious and sub-standard drugs.
(ii) Right to be Informed: Consumer has also the right that he should be provided all the information on the basis of which he decides to buy goods or services. Such information relate to quality, purity, potency, standard, date of manufacture, method of use, etc. of the commodity.
(iii) Right to Choose: Consumer has the full right to buy any good or service of his choice from among the different goods or services available in the market. In other words, no seller can influence his choice in an unfair manner.
Responsibilities of a consumer:
(i) Consumer must exercise his Rights: Consumers have many rights with regard to the goods and services. They must be aware of their rights while buying. These rights are: right of safety, right to be informed, right to representation, right to seek redressal, right to consumer education, etc.
(ii) Cautious Consumer /do not buy Blindly: The consumers should make full use of their reason while buying things. They should not take the seller’s words as the final truth. In other words, while buying consumer must get information regarding the quality, quantity, price, utility, etc. of goods and services.
(iii) Filing complaint for the redressal of genuine grievances: It is the responsibility of the consumers to approach the officer concerned in case there is some complaint about the goods purchased. A late complaint may find that the period of guarantee/warrantee has lapsed. Sometimes, consumers ignore the deception of businessmen. This tendency encourages corrupt business practices.
Who can a file complaint in a consumer court?
Or
Who can file a complaint under the Consumer Protection Act 1986?
A consumer, a registered consumer association, Central Government and State Government can file a complaint.
Explain the importance of consumer protection from the point of view of a business.
From the Point of View of Business: Business needs consumers as much as consumers need business. Therefore, business should also join hands in protecting consumers’ interest. Its importance is highlighted by the following facts:
(i) Long term interest of Business: Every business wants to enjoy long existence. This is possible only when business firms provide absolute satisfaction to the consumers. A firm that succeeds in satisfying the consumers, the consumers themselves turn to such a firm for buying their products time and again and they tell others also about their satisfaction. In this way, the number of customers for that firm goes up and the firm continues to live for a long time. Paying attention to the satisfaction of the consumers is nothing but consumer protection.
(ii) Business Uses Society’s Resources: Every business uses various resources, e.g., material, machinery, human, capital, etc. All these resources are supplied by society. From this point of view, it becomes the responsibility of business to provide better facilities to society. By doing this and through the medium of consumer protection business gets an opportunity to discharge its responsibility towards society.
(iii) Government Intervention: By ignoring consumers’ interest, business is almost inviting government intervention. Government intervention in defence of consumers’ interest is certainly a set back for any firm. This is why every firm wants to avoid such a situation. Such a situation can be avoided only if the consumers’ interest is taken care of. Doing so means taking care of consumers’ protection.
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